We went over several Andes passes today, the highest at 12.240’. What can I say about the location.. I have been dazzled by the beauty, drama, and light -- not to mention the effect of elevation on human perception. We loved just being in the Andes at such high elevation. We were in the Amazon drainage. The two major towns in Peru’s Amazon Department – Celedin and Cajamarca are only connected with the outside world by several hundred kilometers of dirt roads. This location is remote! We were thrilled to finally reach a paved road – only to be shortly greeted with nube (clouds/fog at 10,300’ – 8,300’).
Our hotel and service in Celendin were amusing. The Andes people view hot water as simply being not cold water. The bygone staff was very sweet and welcoming. Our room, thou
gh lacking charm, had a lovely little balcony overlooking the lively Plaza.
Since I put the back up tire into service and won’t get a replacement till Lima, I drove with higher attention to where the tire hits the road. So far I have lost one tire in 600 miles of dirt roads. I don’t have much confidence in the practicality of the baby spare tire in the back when I am so far away from easily available Michelin sport-size tires. We will be more aggressive again on unpaved roads after Lima.
The river valleys and coastal areas are now quite familiar. Even the car became its old self. We checked into Hotel Bracamonte, in the seaside town of Huanchaco, near Trujullo, Peru. The prospect of locating inside of Trujullo, a recently grown city of 800,000 (1.5mm metro), was too daunting. We are saving ourselves for 4 nights in Lima. The kitchen here is excellent with very fresh sea food.
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